TRUSTECH Theme: Payment

Payment, a Complex Alchemy

The rise of digital payment must not make us forget that it relies on a complex mechanism. The payments ecosystem, patiently built over the years, has become particularly sophisticated. It relies on robust infrastructures, strict regulatory frameworks and dedicated supervisory authorities. Its operation depends on many interconnected elements: clearing and guarantee mechanisms, information and messaging systems adapted to the different types of transactions, payment initiation and account-holding service providers. It is also strongly influenced by the expectations of retailers and e-commerce, whose demands shape the evolution of the market.

This ecosystem also requires international standardisation (such as ISO 20022) and specific mechanisms to manage cross-border transactions. It also involves fine management of liquidity, cash and risks, while integrating fraud detection tools and increasingly resilient processing systems. Artificial intelligence plays a central role in this dynamic: it helps to optimise the security of transactions, anticipate anomalies, and personalise the payment experience, with a tangible impact on both consumers and merchants.

In all its diversity, the payments market orchestrates all these components to ensure smooth interconnection between players. It now faces two major challenges: the growing globalisation of financial flows, with an ever-increasing volume of cross-border payments, and the accelerated digitalisation of transactions, which brings new challenges in terms of speed, irreversibility, and settlement between the different stakeholders.

Retail Payments: the Rise of Open Finance Data and Institutional Adoption of Blockchain

The retail payments market is evolving rapidly under the effect of Open Finance, which goes beyond Open Banking by expanding the sharing of financial data to new actors. This dynamic encourages the emergence of highly personalised and secure services, optimised thanks to APIs and artificial intelligence. Application programming interfaces (APIs) play a key role by facilitating interconnection between banks, fintechs and companies, thus accelerating innovation in digital payments.

At the same time, blockchain, a distributed ledger technology that enables the transparent and tamper-proof storage of transactions, along with stablecoins, is helping to reshape the global financial landscape. In 2025, institutional adoption is expected to accelerate: an increasing number of large corporations and financial institutions are integrating these technologies to streamline payments, improve cash management, and enhance the security and traceability of their operations. Use cases involving asset tokenisation, secure wallets, and decentralised digital identities are clear indicators of this ongoing transformation. The promise of instant, low-cost, cross-border transactions without intermediaries is becoming increasingly attractive to economic stakeholders. However, this evolution also brings major regulatory challenges, as governments seek to regulate the use of cryptocurrencies and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

Strong authentication and biometric technologies remain the cornerstones of this transformation, ensuring both fluidity and security. In parallel, instant and account-to-account (A2A) payments are emerging as effective alternatives to traditional bank cards, marking a new era for the digital payments ecosystem.

Mobile Payment, Innovation and Digitalisation

Retail payment has taken a new turn in recent years, encouraged by health-related constraints. It refers to contactless or remote payment, generally integrated seamlessly into a service accessible via mobile phone. The payment transaction is carried out via a digital wallet or an application, and may also rely on a contactless card, biometric technologies, or other connected devices such as watches. The aim: to enhance the fluidity of the customer experience while ensuring secure authentication.

Payment is taking on a new digital dimension, as it is now processed as part of a broader digital journey and the flow of services from a cloud-based platform. It is embedded in a more general customer experience where all factors are considered, such as the connection terminal, geolocation, transaction regularity, payment amount, etc. The difference with Open Banking lies in the integration of the payment operation into the digital service experience. Physical commerce is also aligning with this trend by offering digital receipts or default trust consent for small transactions.

With the expansion of open banking and faster payment infrastructures, new innovations at point of sale (POS) will emerge, bringing benefits such as lower maintenance costs, increased flexibility and improved revenues. The development of instant transfers within a harmonised regulatory framework at the European level also paves the way for greater fluidity in interbank payments, while raising new security and governance challenges. Pain-free or even invisible payment is increasingly embedded in the digital customer experience, thanks to biometrics, data, and proximity devices.

In Search of Digital Currency

This gradual conquest of digital payments has yet to cross the finish line. It is unlikely to be achieved until several years after central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are rolled out. Money, as a unit of account and store of value, naturally goes far beyond the simple function of payment. Nevertheless, the introduction of digital currency is expected to be a key driver in the evolution of the payments market. It is set to become a major disruptive force. For instance, at the European level, questions are being raised as to how it will impact the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), which processes 150 billion transactions annually across 530 million citizens and 25 million organisations.

The digitisation of payments is also fostering deeper interactions with related domains that were previously more distinct. Data protection, consent management, digital identity, onboarding, customer due diligence, and anti-money laundering policies are all increasingly intertwined with digital payment activities.

The progressive introduction of digital currencies, including regulated stablecoins and tokenised deposits, is redefining models of monetary governance and raising the critical issue of payment sovereignty in an increasingly tense geopolitical context. Market participants must now take these developments into account and incorporate them into their payment strategies.

Welcome to the era of digital payments. This article has highlighted some of the key developments shaping the payments market, underlining the features and consequences of its ongoing digital transformation.

TRUSTECH, taking place in Paris from 2 to 4 December 2025, will bring together numerous public and private stakeholders to explore the latest trends in payments and innovation. The conference programme will provide a platform to engage with key decision-makers and industry influencers, and to debate the sector’s future. Topics will include: infrastructure, regulation and supervision, Open Banking and data aggregation, mobile payments, digitalisation and resilience, digital currencies and assets and the future of cryptocurrencies. The most cutting-edge technologies in cards, mobile, biometrics and crypto-assets will be showcased throughout the event.

[1] https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/fintech/digital-payments/worldwide?currency=USD